Geelong expected to reap $5 million from home AFL final

Hundreds of Geelong fans have queued for hours to secure a ticket to the club's first AFL home final at Kardinia Park.

Tickets went on sale this morning to the game against Fremantle in Geelong on Saturday.

About 30,000 people are expected to attend.

The club's chief executive, Brian Cook, said the game will be the biggest national sporting event Geelong has ever hosted.

He said it will bring about $5 million to Geelong, half of which will be spent inside the ground, and half on things like hotels, restaurants and taxis in the city.

"But apart from that, just the emotional uplift for the community is unbelievable," he said.

Earlier this year, the Cats hosted their first night game at Kardinia Park after the stadium's new lights were switched on.

"We've lit up Geelong but now with this final, it's just another add-on, it's icing on the cake for us," Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook said he did not think he would see a home final at Kardinia Park in his career and he is pleased the club did not have to wait until the refurbishment of the stadium is complete.

"I take my hat off to the AFL, I think they've been very open in their thinking on this matter," he said.

The Mayor of Geelong, Bruce Harwood, said he hopes to see plenty of Fremantle supporters travel to Geelong for the game.

"We are hoping the purple army travels and we see a lot of them. It's a good spend around the hotels, restaurants, taxis, service stations and it all filters down through the community," he said.

"I know it's only sport but it's amazing the effect it does have on the city," he said.

"Even if you don't barrack for the cats I think you still have to recognise this is huge for the town."

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says it will not put on any extra polling booths at Kardinia Park, despite the final falling on election day.

A spokesman for the AEC said it will look at strategies to promote early voting.

The ABC's election analyst, Antony Green, said that could have an impact on voting patterns.

"It'll be interesting to see how the electoral commission cope with the AFL holding the first final in Geelong for a century, because it means there are going to be 35,000 people at Kardinia Park smack bang in the middle of the electorates of and ," he said.

"That's about 15 per cent of the electorate's population probably.

"If you're after a quiet time of day to vote in Corio or Corangamite, I reckon during the game would be a good time."

Football fans reported delays in accessing the Ticketek website to buy tickets online, but the mood was buoyant among the hundreds of members who queued to access tickets this morning.

Max Cray said he is looking forward to the game.

"It'll be good to be part of the history. There hasn't been a final played here for a hundred-odd years," he said.

He said it is good news for Geelong.

"It'll mean about $5 million and that's good because the town's been suffering a bit."

Marie Nolan has supported Geelong for more than 50 years and she said watching the home final will mean a lot.

"It'd be great after the lights and everything, it'll be terrific," she said.

Peter Larcombe started lining up early this morning.

"It's a very historic event and we might never see it again," he said.